Some people don’t know what they want to do until they take that one class that sparks their interest just enough. For David Zimmerman, that class was Journalism. 

Zimmerman was a highly respected member of The Streak’s staff, as arts and entertainment editor during his junior and senior years. He graduated from Warren Hills in 2019 with plans to pursue Journalism as a career. 

Zimmerman is now a Communication Arts student at Grove City College and serving as editor in chief of the college newspaper, The Collegian. During his summers off from school he is an intern at The Western Journal, a conservative Christian newspaper. 

However, Zimmerman did not originally know that Communications was his passion. 

“I first became interested in this career prospect shortly after I took American Lit with McKinney during my sophomore year. She encouraged me to sign up for her first-year Journalism class,” he said. “I was not interested in this suggestion because I wanted to go into computer science at the time. I soon found out that STEM was not for me, and it just so happened that I was taking Journalism as a junior.” 

During Zimmerman’s high school experience, he enjoyed a variety of classes such as English, Film Design, Communications and Media, and Journalism which prepared him well for his position at The Collegian. 

“In terms of my editor in chief job, I think taking two years of Journalism helped out a ton because I did not need to learn the ropes once I got into college,” he said. “I just started writing and moved my way up the editorial ladder from there. Managing an entire newspaper is much different than overseeing a one-page section, but my time in Journalism laid the groundwork for what I’m doing today.” 

Zimmerman is enthusiastic about his new profession.

“I enjoy being able to write different stories, interviewing a variety of sources and placing the quotes together like individual puzzle pieces, but not hearing back from sources via email or any other contact method, tight deadlines especially when I’m at college, and the fear of including a quote out of context and the source getting mad that they were misunderstood are the not-as- glamorous parts of what I do,” he said.  “My absolute favorite part is being able to manage a staff of nine bright, talented editors/leaders and getting to improve the newspaper each time we print.” 

Zimmerman has advice that he has learned through his experience from working in the field through college and summers. 

“For those who want to pursue Journalism, just start writing–either for your school’s paper or for a real publication. You’ll learn so much about writing stories, interviewing sources and other journalistic practices in the process of doing the job, that learning about it seems pointless,” he said. “There’s only so much you can do in a classroom; get out there and gain experiences.” 

Although Zimmerman has had a lot of experience within the field, he is just as excited about his future as ever before. 

“Be inquisitive and curious about stories, for these qualities are the true hallmarks of a journalist,” he said. “Ask questions and don’t be afraid to get uncomfortable talking to people.”